Live On
by IndigoNightandRayneStorm
Summary: “She can’t hear you,” said a voice from behind him. He jumped, whirling around. “Ari?” he said, frowning. “You can’t be here. You’re dead.” “So are you, Fang,” Ari informed him matteroffactly. ONESHOT, Character death. Random, don't ask. Please Review!


**Title: **Live On

**Author: **IndigoStarNight

**Feedback: **Yes please

**Summary:** "She can't hear you," said a voice from behind him. He jumped, whirling around. "Ari?" he said, frowning. "You can't be here. You're dead." "So are you, Fang," Ari informed him matter-of-factly.

**Pairing: **None

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Maximum Ride or the characters.

**Spoilers: **Nope

**Rating: **PG

**Warnings: **Character Death.

**Author's Note: **Completely random. Don't ask. But Please review!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was the strangest thing he had ever experienced. He could see them, his friends, grouped together in a tight knot, all leaning on each other, all sobbing. He sat a distance away from them, perched easily on a nearby boulder. He felt strange, disconnected from everything, numb almost.

It was like looking through a glass window that blocked all sense but that of sight. He couldn't even really hear them, though from the distance he was at he normal would have caught ever rustle of their clothing. Even sight he was so disconnected from that though he _saw_ them before him with his eyes, the image went no deeper.

He knew that he _should_ feel something. They were his family after all, they were crying, broken, hurting deeply. Yet he felt nothing. He should be down there, a part of that needing embrace the other five shared. Why wasn't he?

Why were they crying anyway? He didn't know, how strange. No, that wasn't true, somewhere, deep down, he did know, some part of him did. But he had no memory of it, his mind presented him with no images, no sounds, no thoughts or feelings. It was though his very existence had been severed completely and he hung immobile, disconnected from even his own mind.

Still, he watched on, motionless, as one by one, they cried themselves out and dropped off into an exhausted, heartbroken sleep.

Only one remained awake. She sat up still, staring blankly ahead into nothingness. She allowed her grief to take over her heart, mind, body, and soul completely, now that she had the others all settled in to bed.

Suddenly, he found himself at her side, though he had not consciously moved himself.

"Max?" he asked, whispering, though he wasn't really sure why.

She didn't answer him. She didn't even acknowledge that he had spoken. She just continued staring blankly into empty space

"Max? Hello?" he waved his hand in front of her face, but she didn't even blink.

"She can't hear you," said a voice from behind him.

He jumped, whirling around. "Ari?" he said, frowning. "You can't be here. You're dead."

"So are you, Fang," Ari informed him matter-of-factly.

Fang shook his head in denial. "No, this is just a really weird dream," he decided aloud.

"Yeah, I thought so at first too."

Fang choose to ignore Ari and turned back to Max. She was crying again, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks.

"Damn it, Fang," she cursed under her breath, "How could you leave me like this?"

"See?" Ari said, almost sounding smug.

Fang knelt by her, longing to reach out and hug her, a notion he rarely made the habit of having. Slowly he reached out a hand, intending to wipe away her tears, but to his shook and horror his hand went straight through her.

She jumped, looked quickly over her shoulder, almost as though she'd felt something, shivered, and shook it off. She tried to stand, failed, and simply crawled over to where Angel lay curled up with Gazzy and joined them.

Fang, meanwhile, remained frozen in horror, his hand still out stretched.

"I told you so," Ari definitely sounded vaguely smug now.

"I-I don't remember dying," Fang whispered.

"Yeah, well, it was kind of sudden, I guess you didn't have the chance to figure out what was happening," Ari shrugged.

"How-how did it happen?"

"The same way you knew it eventually would, Erasers."

"That's why they were crying," Fang breathed, more thinking aloud than anything, "It was for me." That realization made his heart ache dimly, but everything still felt strange and surreal.

Ari nodded gravely.

"Come on," Ari said, breaking the long silence that followed, "We shouldn't stay long. I'm supposed to take you over."

"Where?" Fang asked numbly.

Ari frowned a moment, as though pondering the question. "I don' really know what to call it," he answered, "It just… what it is. Its where we, where the dead people are supposed to go."

"I'm not leaving the Flock."

"You have to." Fang shook his head. "Don't worry," Ari continued, trying to persuade him, "They'll be OK. Besides, they'll probably be joining us soon anyway."

That was not the right thing to say. "I'm not leaving," Fang repeated determinedly.

Ari sighed, looking annoyed. "You don't have a choice."

Fang's face darkened with determination.

"You really don't," Ari told him seriously, "Pretty soon you'll start to fade whether you want to or not. It'll be way easier if you just come now, trust me."

Fang didn't move.

"Fine then," Ari shrugged, "Be that way." Then he turned and began to fade out of sight, but he paused and turned his head back, "See you soon," he said, with a half mocking grin.

Fang spent the rest of the night watching the Flock sleep. OK, so he was dead, he was beginning to accept that, but he still refused to leave them.

When dawn came they began to stir, slowly one by one blinking blearily and sitting up. Max, for once, woke last.

At first they all just sat there, unsure of what to do with themselves.

"He's really gone, isn't he?" Gazzy asked a length, his voice sounding very small and young.

Max nodded numbly, "Yeah, kiddo, he is," she admitted, her voice little different from his.

"Should we, like, hold a funeral or something?" Nudge suggested.

Angel nodded her agreement. Iggy said and did nothing.

"Um… right," said Max, blinding around her and looking somewhat lost. Her eyes landed on a sturdy stick that had been somehow split in half, clean down the middle. Picking it up she pulled the small pocketknife they'd pick up somewhere in their travels out of her jacket pocket and carefully carved F-A-N-G on the flat side of the stick.

The others watched with solemn eyes (or in Iggy's case listened with solemn ears) as she stood and slowly walked over to a leafy oak tree. Kneeling at its base she dug a hole and buried the bottom end of the stick in it so that it stood on its own in the shade of the tree.

Once done, Max stood up again and stared down at the makeshift tombstone. "Uh, we here, officially, lay to rest Fang…" she tried, obviously making it up as she went. But she didn't get any further as she broke down. Nudge and Angel rushed to hug her, Iggy and Gazzy hanging back awkwardly.

"'Bye, Fang," Angel said softly, her voice steady as she hugged the crying Max, "I hope you're happy and safe wherever you are now."

Fang had watched all of this unfold, the aching in his heart growing with every passing moment. What Angel had said struck him. He didn't _want_ to be safe and happy, he didn't _want_ to be dead. He wanted to be sitting over their with them, chowing down on Slim Jims or something. He _wanted_ to live.

But he couldn't.

And even as he watched them holding their little funeral for him, he felt himself fading away. Ari had said it would happen whether he wanted it to or not, and it seemed Ari was right.

His view of his family faded, as a bright light started behind them and grew until he could see nothing else. He fought it, he didn't want to go. But as he was pulled deeper and deeper into the tunnel of light it seemed that he heard a muted chorus of "Goodbye, Fang," and he could clearly discern the voice of each and every Flock member.

They'd let him go, so he supposed it was time to let them go. So, with a last wrench in his chest, he stopping fighting, and allowed the white light to take him away, to take him away to safety and happiness, where he would wait for his family to join him and they could be comfortable and at peace forever.


End file.
